Join Our Voices Unheard Youth Reference Group
We are recruiting LGBT young people aged 13-25 from across Scotland to join our Voices Unheard Youth Reference Group to support our work on Healthy Relationships and Domestic Abuse.
Are you concerned that LGBT young people don't have access to relevant information about healthy relationships or domestic abuse? Are you an LGBT young person aged 13-25 and currently live in Scotland? Are you passionate about using your voice to influence positive change and improve services for LGBT young people? If you answered YES – we want to work with you!
***Content warning: references to domestic abuse and violence***
1 in 4 LGBT people experience domestic abuse in their lifetime and can face challenges when accessing support. When people think about domestic abuse, they often only think about physical violence, but domestic abuse includes a range of controlling behaviours carried out by a partner or ex-partner to cause physical, emotional or mental harm.
This can include physical violence; sexual abuse; emotional abuse; stalking or monitoring you; threats; isolation or financial abuse. Sometimes homophobia, biphobia or transphobia are used as tools of abuse, including; name-calling; enforcing stereotypes; undermining your gender identity or gender expression or threatening to out you. Domestic abuse often happens over a period of time, and has a profound impact upon a person's physical, emotional and mental wellbeing.
LGBT young people also report that they do not receive enough information about healthy LGBT relationships or how to recognise abuse in LGBT relationships, and many feel unable to access specialist support services due to fear of being outed or because they are concerned about prejudice, discrimination or not being taken seriously.
We want to change that!
What will the group do?
The Voices Unheard Youth Reference Group will act as a voice for LGBT young people across Scotland who are affected by these issues. You don't need to have experience of domestic abuse or have been in an unhealthy relationship to participate; you just need care about these issues and be willing to work with us to create change.
The project will be delivered digitally, so you will need to have access to the internet and device that allows you to access Microsoft Teams, Discord or an equivalent platform.
The group will not meet at regular intervals or set dates and times. Instead, opportunities will be advertised to the group detailing requirements, expectations and timescales and you can volunteer to participate in activities that are of interest and that suit you. Examples of some of the work you could be involved in includes:
- Awareness-raising work
- Taking part in consultations or research
- Engaging with professionals and decision-makers
- Creating new resources and information
- Helping us to map out services and identify gaps
- Writing blogs or articles for our website and social media
- Help us to shape the direction of our future work on healthy relationships and domestic abuse
If you are interested in getting involved, please complete our online form. Recruitment will close on 31st December and we will be in touch in January to let you know if your application has been accepted.
Please note: When applying you will need to supply contact details for a reference from a youth worker, teacher, employer or equivalent. We may contact these people in advance of any interview. We recognise that young people might not be 'out' or may not be able to get a reference easily. If you are unable to provide a reference, please let us know and we will contact you to discuss.
If you want to know more about this project or have any questions, please contact Janice.Stevenson@lgbtyouth.org.uk
